Design Skills Evaluation

 What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

Thanks to the short briefs, I think I've developed the ability to generate ideas and concepts quickly, which I know will be expected of me in a professional environment, and whereas previously I would have been distracted or unmotivated, I've found it really easy to concentrate and focus on the brief, so that all my work is being produced in good time. 

The crits we have undertaken have helped to develop my critical and analytical skills, in regards to both mine and my peers work, but also in the greater context of the graphic design industry. I now have a broader vocabulary in terms of analysing people's work, and I also have a greater understanding of how to provide useful feedback. 

Blogging regularly during this module has also developed my writing skills, and has helped me to better articulate my ideas and my thoughts on my own work. 

The Illustrator brief has introduced me to software I had no previous experience of, and I now feel I am more digitally competent, and I have a greater level of confidence on the adobe software, although I know I have a lot of work to do to catch up with my peers when it comes to digital design.  

What approaches to/methods of idea generation have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

My brainstorming skills and design sheets have developed strongly in my time here, and I am now able to create a higher quantity of design sheets filled with ideas and thoughts. In the mail shot brief, creating mock ups early on in the process was something I have never done before and something I found to be really useful in informing my ideas, as it allowed me to work out which ideas would work in reality and not just in my head. It also gave me a better idea of stock and how you can manipulate materials. 

The progress crits have also developed my idea generation in a really positive way because I am able to get great feedback from people whose opinion I trust, and their ideas help to push me in the right direction, and allow me to see my work from a different perspective.  

What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

One of my main strengths I feel has been in generating ideas and concepts for each of the briefs. I always feel like my work has been well thought through and has a clear cut idea behind it. 

Of all the briefs, I feel my strongest work was my personal alphabet for Stephen.  It was challenging, but I was very proud of my developments during the brief, and of the final resolution, which let me show off what I think is one of my main strengths - illustration and hand rendered design. I hope to start including more hand drawn illustrations within my work, as currently I don't feel like any of my work has been identifiably mine, aside from the personal alphabet. Everything else I've produced has been quite uniform and basic. 

I also think another strength I have is in my communication and ability to create something high impact. I often find myself coming up with the text to go on a design before I think of the imagery, and I feel like I have a good understanding of audience and client, which helps me to set an appropriate tone within my work, both with any text used, and the colour and design. I'm hoping I will be able to capitalise on this strength throughout the course, as successful communication is the basis for successful design. 

What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

I often worry when I look at my final resolutions that my weakness is in the execution and realisation of my ideas. I (generally) have no problem producing a concept or an idea for a brief, but I find it a struggle to bring the idea to life in the way I had imagined it would look, something I feel is in part due to my thought process. I find it difficult to approach things with a logic I know is necessary in professional graphic design, and in the next module, I am going to focus on improving this, and hopefully approach briefs with an improved mindset, as I feel this will improve the quality of my work. 

I also want to try and challenge myself more in the next module, as much of my work has been very simple and straightforward design wise, and maybe a little obvious. 

I would also like to work on the presentation of my design sheets, as I feel the standard of them slips part way through the brief, when I am working quickly and I do not think about making them look neat and tidy. 

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

I will create neater and more presentable design sheets, so that I can have a clearer plan of what needs to be done, and also so that my work is communicating clearly, which will affect my work in a positive way.

I will spend time on illustrator and CS5 tutorials, which I hope will broaden my design skills so that in future briefs I can experiment and challenge myself a little more.

I will write down plans for what I intend to do so that I can make it clear for myself, and I can start to work on things more logically, which means I will be better prepared.

I will explore a wider range of design possibilities and experiment more with colour, type and image, which will benefit my work by giving me a broader range of ideas to work from.

I will ask more questions in the crits we have so that I can better understand my work and the direction I need to take, which means my work will look better resolved.